HB113 - Relating to statutory construction, including restrictions on the use of certain aids to construction.

  89R28815 MAW-F     By: Vasut, Cain, Leach, Hayes, Schofield, H.B. No. 113       et al.       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to statutory construction, including restrictions on the   use of certain aids to construction.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Sections 311.016(2) and (3), Government Code,   are amended to read as follows:                (2)  "Shall" imposes a duty. The use of "shall" does not   indicate that an action is discretionary.                (3)  "Must" imposes a requirement and either creates a   duty or creates or recognizes a condition precedent.          SECTION 2.  Subchapter C, Chapter 311, Government Code, is   amended by adding Sections 311.0211, 311.0212, and 311.0213 to read   as follows:           Sec.   311.0211.     INTENTIONALISM PROHIBITED. When   interpreting a statute, a court:                 (1)     may not inquire into what members of the   legislature intended to accomplish by enacting the statute; and                 (2)     shall enforce the statutory text as written and in   accordance with the meaning that the words of the statute would have   to an ordinary speaker of the English language.           Sec.   311.0212.     USE OF LEGISLATIVE HISTORY PROHIBITED. When   interpreting a statute, a court may not consider, consult, cite,   rely on, or give any weight to:                 (1)     any statement from an individual legislator,   including a statement by the author or sponsor of the bill that   enacted the statute or a statement made during a committee hearing   or debate of the bill on the floor of a house of the legislature;                 (2)  a committee report; or                 (3)     a statement of a presiding officer or the governor   made on the signing of the bill.           Sec.   311.0213.     DEFERENCE TO AGENCY CONSTRUCTION   PROHIBITED.   Notwithstanding any other law, a court is not required   to give deference to any construction of a statute by a state agency   responsible for administering, implementing, or enforcing the   statute.   This section does not prohibit a court from considering a   state agency's construction of a statute if that construction is   reasonable and does not conflict with the plain language of the   statute.          SECTION 3.  Section 311.025(c), Government Code, is amended   to read as follows:          (c)  In determining whether amendments are irreconcilable,   text that is reenacted because of the requirement of Article III,   Section 36, of the Texas Constitution is not considered to be   irreconcilable with additions or omissions in the same text made by   another amendment. Unless clearly indicated to the contrary, an   amendment that reenacts text in compliance with that constitutional   requirement does not mean [ indicate legislative intent ] that the   reenacted text prevails  [ prevail ] over changes in the same text   made by another amendment, regardless of the relative dates of   enactment.          SECTION 4.  Section 311.026(b), Government Code, is amended   to read as follows:          (b)  If the conflict between the general provision and the   special or local provision is irreconcilable, the special or local   provision prevails as an exception to the general provision, unless   the general provision is the later enactment and clearly and   unambiguously supersedes the special or local provision [ the   manifest intent is that the general provision prevail ].          SECTION 5.  Section 311.028, Government Code, is amended to   read as follows:          Sec. 311.028.  UNIFORM CONSTRUCTION OF UNIFORM ACTS. A   uniform act included in a code shall be construed , when possible,   [ to effect its general purpose ] to make uniform the law of those   states that enact it.          SECTION 6.  Subchapter C, Chapter 311, Government Code, is   amended by adding Section 311.0311 to read as follows:           Sec.   311.0311.     SEVERABILITY AND SAVING CONSTRUCTIONS. (a)   Unless a statute contains a provision expressly providing for   nonseverability, every provision, section, subsection, sentence,   clause, phrase, and word of the statute, including every discrete   application of the provision, section, subsection, sentence,   clause, phrase, or word to any person, group of persons, or   circumstance, is severable.           (b)     If any application of any statutory provision, section,   subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word to any person, group   of persons, or circumstance is determined by a court to be invalid,   preempted, or unconstitutional, regardless of the reason, all   remaining applications of that statutory provision, section,   subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word to any other person,   group of persons, or circumstance shall be severed and preserved   and remain in effect.           (c)     It is the intent of the legislature that every valid,   non-preempted, and constitutional application of its statutory   enactments be allowed to stand alone and remain enforceable.           (d)     A court may not decline to enforce the severability   requirements of this section on the grounds that the severance   would rewrite the statute or involve the court in legislative or   lawmaking activity. A court that declines to enforce, or that   enjoins a state official from enforcing, wholly or partly, a   statute is not considered to be rewriting a statute or engaging in   legislative or lawmaking activity because the statute continues to   contain the same words as before the court's decision. A judicial   injunction or declaration of unconstitutionality:                 (1)     is only an edict prohibiting enforcement of the   disputed statute against the parties to that lawsuit and may   subsequently be vacated by a higher court based on a different   understanding of the law;                 (2)     is not a formal amendment of the language in a   statute; and                 (3)     does not rewrite the statute any more than a   decision by the executive not to enforce a duly enacted statute in a   limited and defined set of circumstances.           (e)     If a court, in violation of this section, declares or   finds any statutory provision, section, subsection, sentence,   clause, phrase, or word to be facially or totally invalid,   preempted, or unconstitutional, when there are discrete   applications of that statutory provision, section, subsection,   sentence, clause, phrase, or word that could be enforced against a   person, group of persons, or circumstance without violating federal   law or the federal or state constitutions, then that statutory   provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word   shall be interpreted, as a matter of state law, as if the   legislature had explicitly limited its application to the person,   group of persons, or circumstance for which its application will   not violate federal law or the federal or state constitutions, and   every court shall adopt and apply this saving construction until   the court ruling declaring the statutory provision, section,   subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word facially or totally   invalid, preempted, or unconstitutional is vacated or overturned.          SECTION 7.  Section 311.034, Government Code, is amended to   read as follows:          Sec. 311.034.  WAIVER OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY ; JURISDICTIONAL   REQUIREMENTS . In order to preserve the legislature's interest in   managing state fiscal matters through the appropriations process, a   statute shall not be construed as a waiver of sovereign immunity   unless the waiver is effected by clear and unambiguous language. In   a statute, the use of "person," as defined by Section 311.005 to   include governmental entities, does not [ indicate legislative   intent to ] waive sovereign immunity unless the context of the   statute indicates no other reasonable construction. Statutory   prerequisites to a suit, including the provision of notice, are   jurisdictional requirements in all suits against a governmental   entity.          SECTION 8.  Subchapter C, Chapter 311, Government Code, is   amended by adding Section 311.037 to read as follows:           Sec.   311.037.     GRAMMATICAL OR SCRIVENER'S ERROR. A   grammatical or scrivener's error does not vitiate a law. A court   construing a statute that contains a grammatical or scrivener's   error that would be apparent to an ordinary reader of the English   language may interpret the statute consistent with the   understanding of the statute by an ordinary reader of the English   language.          SECTION 9.  Subchapter A, Chapter 312, Government Code, is   amended by adding Sections 312.0051, 312.0052, 312.0053, 312.0081,   and 312.0082 to read as follows:           Sec.   312.0051.     INTENTIONALISM PROHIBITED. When   interpreting a statute, a court:                 (1)     may not inquire into what members of the   legislature intended to accomplish by enacting the statute; and                 (2)     shall enforce the statutory text as written and in   accordance with the meaning that the words of the statute would have   to an ordinary speaker of the English language.           Sec.   312.0052.     USE OF LEGISLATIVE HISTORY PROHIBITED. When   interpreting a statute, a court may not consider, consult, cite,   rely on, or give any weight to:                 (1)     any statement from an individual legislator,   including a statement by the author or sponsor of the bill that   enacted the statute or a statement made during a committee hearing   or debate of the bill on the floor of a house of the legislature;                 (2)  a committee report; or                 (3)     a statement of a presiding officer or the governor   made on the signing of the bill.           Sec.   312.0053.     DEFERENCE TO AGENCY CONSTRUCTION   PROHIBITED.   Notwithstanding any other law, a court is not required   to give deference to any construction of a statute by a state agency   responsible for administering, implementing, or enforcing the   statute.   This section does not prohibit a court from considering a   state agency's construction of a statute if that construction is   reasonable and does not conflict with the plain language of the   statute.           Sec.   312.0081.     GRAMMATICAL OR SCRIVENER'S ERROR. A   grammatical or scrivener's error does not vitiate a law. A court   construing a statute that contains a grammatical or scrivener's   error that would be apparent to an ordinary reader of the English   language may interpret the statute consistent with the   understanding of the statute by an ordinary reader of the English   language.           Sec.   312.0082.     SEVERABILITY AND SAVING CONSTRUCTIONS. (a)   Unless a statute contains a provision expressly providing for   nonseverability, every provision, section, subsection, sentence,   clause, phrase, and word of the statute, including every discrete   application of the provision, section, subsection, sentence,   clause, phrase, or word to any person, group of persons, or   circumstance, is severable.           (b)     If any application of any statutory provision, section,   subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word to any person, group   of persons, or circumstance is determined by a court to be invalid,   preempted, or unconstitutional, regardless of the reason, all   [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]